Disproportionate assets case: Bikram Majithia sent to 7‑day Vigilance remand

SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia has been sent to seven-day Vigilance Bureau remand in a Prevention of Corruption Act case today.

The Special Public Prosecutor sought a 12‑day remand, but after hearing arguments from both sides, the court granted a seven‑day remand for Majithia. He will be produced in court again on July 2. The court order came two-and-a-half hours after Majithia was brought into the court complex.

Speaking to the media outside the Mohali court, prosecution counsel Ferry Sofat said, “Bikram Singh Majithia’s income of Rs 540 crore remains undisclosed and he has failed to provide any details. Saraya Industries acquired substantial wealth — Rs 161 crore in cash deposited into bank accounts and Rs 141 crore through foreign entities — with no legitimate explanation provided. Additionally, Rs 236 crore was credited to its accounts without any clarification in the financial statements. After registering an NDPS Act case against Majithia, Gorakhpur-based Saraya Industries, which was previously profitable, has been placed into liquidation, allegedly to conceal money laundering.”

“Majithia’s wife Ganieve Kaur, an MLA, had also incorporated a firm with a proprietor capital of Rs 1.57 crore, earning a profit of around Rs 56 lakh in a year but after 2012-13, there are no details of its operation. Majithia’s threatening behaviour towards VB officials and Punjab CM at his house and during the transit from Amritsar to Mohali was also brought to the notice of the court, after which a seven-day remand was given," he added.

The counsel said, “Majithia’s firms’ dealings with Cyprus- and Singapore-based entities are suspicious, as both are considered tax havens.”

Defence counsel HS Dhanoa and Arshdeep Cheema said they would apply for bail and quashing of this FIR in due course of time.

“This is a blatant misuse of power by Punjab Government. As the government is having a hard time in Supreme Court in the 2021 case, they have not been able to file a chargesheet in the case, so they are now buying time by registering a new FIR for disproportionate assets. The basis of the new FIR is a khaarji report by the same Special Investigation Team which has been repeatedly discredited in High Court and Supreme Court," they said.

The Vigilance Bureau arrested Majithia at his Amritsar residence on Wednesday and brought him to Mohali in the evening. Officials said Majithia reportedly amassed properties worth Rs 540 crore, which is disproportionate to his income and expenses between 2007 and 2014.

Heavy police presence and barricading restricted the entry of visitors, bringing the administrative and judicial work to almost a standstill on Thursday. Earlier in the morning, some SAD leaders and workers, led by Daljit Singh Cheema, staged a protest before being detained by the police. A few women AAP workers also stood with placards of drug smuggling.

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